Background: Glioma is the most common intracranial tumor. The inflammatory response actively participates in the malignancy of gliomas. There is still limited knowledge about the biological function of immune-related genes (IRGs) and their potential involvement in the malignancy of gliomas.
Methods: We screened differentially expressed and survival-associated IRGs, and explored their potential molecular characteristics. Then we developed a prognostic index derived from seven hub IRGs. A prognostic nomogram was built to indicate the prognostic value of the prognostic index and seven IRGs. We characterized the immune infiltration landscape to analyze tumor-immune interactions. The real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay was performed to validate bioinformatics results.
Results: The differentially expressed IRGs are involved in cell chemotaxis, cytokine activity, and the chemokine-mediated signaling pathway. The prognostic index derived from seven IRGs had clinical prognostic value in glioma, and positively correlated with the malignant clinicopathological characteristics. A nomogram further indicated that the prognostic index and seven hub IRGs had clinical prognostic value for gliomas. We revealed that the prognostic index could reflect the state of the glioma immune microenvironment.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates the importance of an IRG-based prognostic index as a potential biomarker for predicting malignancy in gliomas.
Keywords: glioma; immune-related genes; immunotherapy; prognosis index.
© 2021 The Authors. Immunity, Inflammation and Disease published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.